By Chance Art and Photography

I was never really good at drawing or painting, but I've always been interested in art - art in life. In second or third grade, I borrowed my dad's camera for an art project, took pictures. I borrowed my dad's camera a lot, growing up. I got my first camera in fifth grade, in Kenya. Then in high school in Egypt I took photography, all four years, international school. Great dark room, rolled all my own film, everything. I joke that I'm planning for alzheimer's ... because a picture is worth a thousand words ...

I switched to digital when my film camera was stolen from me several years ago. I bought a little digital to tide me over and I never looked back. I love digital. I love just being able to shoot and shoot, not worry about paying to get it developed or developing it myself. It's an unlimited medium.

Now I use long exposure times, painting with light, just leave the shutter open for a couple minutes and use light sources to paint on the subject, or use the moon, or natural light. It's about light.

Some of what I shoot is for me, other pictures are for the shop. I like bringing images of cultures seldom seen in Ukiah, like my series on sumo wrestlers at a festival. All my photographs are printed on canvas and matted, mounted and framed by a family-owned and operated business in Bali. It's important to me to offer my photographs for a good price, and also as greeting cards, because I believe everyone should be able to have art in their life.